


In the Rain

by inthemarketplace



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Post TLJ, Pretty darn fluffy, picnic of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 01:59:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13753863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthemarketplace/pseuds/inthemarketplace
Summary: Walking through the market near the new Resistance base, Rey thinks she sees a familiar face, or is it just a mirage?





	In the Rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [2000pancakes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/2000pancakes/gifts).



> Prompt: for jennachangedherusername, based on some of her likes (Bittersweet endings, Talkative Rey, Rey addressing Kylo as 'Ben', BB-8 and Rey interacting with BB-8) and taking care to refrain from her dislikes (cocky Kylo Ren).

The market was a panoply of color and sound. Rey wandered through the narrow lanes between the stalls, letting the calls of vendors fade into the background of her thoughts. It was a beautiful kind of world: so vibrant, so many people, so much life. So much water, too. The mood elsewhere might be dampened by the weather but in the market there were more than enough distractions to keep the crowd in good spirits.

She was looking thoughtfully at some jars of spices when suddenly, only twenty paces away, appeared something like a face: a pale blur framed by dark, a flash like lightening—something that didn’t quite fit, and almost like—but in the crowd she lost sight of the vision, and when she turned it was gone. Shaking off the feeling she moved to another stall.

There wasn’t any reason for her mind to linger on the apparition. The Resistance had chosen this planet for a reason; this far into the outskirts of civilization there was little chance of running into any… unpleasantness.

It was a dewy world, always raining, covered in rivers and lakes—the waters couldn’t seem to make up their mind between going up or down, and so everything always seemed to be cloaked in mist. The base was permanently waterlogged; the droids hated it, but it made her feel like she was floating. Maybe soon it would wear on her, but today she had a bag full of fruit and BB-8 chirping pleasantly at her side, and it was quite enough.

Today had been fairly dry, but now it began to rain lazily. She didn’t mind. She’d finished the shopping by the time the market stalls began to close up; there was still a fair bit of time before she was expected anywhere… she might as well enjoy it. 

The droid beeped at her side.

“I know,” she said, “but I want to go to the lake. It’s not far and I’d rather eat out of doors.”

The droid beeped again and continued to roll along side her. 

She tilted her head up to the sky and let the drops of rain bounce off her face like beads. Once she got to the lake the tree cover would keep most of the rain at bay, but for now she wanted to taste the sky’s crystalline tears as they returned to the ground.

She resumed her pace, nearly to the massive willow under which she liked to meditate from time to time, when she felt a buzzing at the nape of her neck and a low hum deep in her ears. _But,_ she thought _, wasn’t it over? how could_ —

“Rey.”

His voice was gravely and thick. She gaped at the sight of him.

The droid beeped at her side, drawing her attention.

“No it’s nothing, just—nothing to worry about, ok?” she said, tone conciliatory and looking down. Ben squinted and could dimly see the outline of the orange droid to which she spoke. It was easier to see the trees behind her, and most easy to see her—she was brighter than anything around him, more solid than the ground on which he stood.

The droid seemed contented for now. She looked back up at him, really looked this time. He seemed… worn thin. Tired and bruised. But still standing.

“Can you see my surroundings? I—I think I can see yours,” Ben said, voice uneven and unsure.

“No, I—just you,” she said. 

“Where are you?” 

She bristled. He regretted asking what she no doubt took as a question meant to mine for intelligence.

“Well where are _you_?”

“My chambers.”

“Hmm.” 

She was quiet. She looked serious as she stood, decked in thousands of tiny gem-like dewdrops.

“Should we… are we supposed to do something? Should I walk around? I don’t know how to close it and I—I don’t want to fight you,” she said and the admission hung about her like a lifted veil.

“Can we just… sit here?”

“Yes,” she said, and her shoulders lowered a bit in relief, “yes that sounds nice.”

She sat down on the exposed root of the willow and rummaged in her sack for a fruit. 

“How—how are you?”

“Things have been… chaotic. But not unmanageable,” he said, stiffly trying to restrain himself from saying too much, too fast…

She nodded.

“How are you?”

“Oh!” she said, “well, I rebuilt the motor on a transporter,” she volunteered, voice a little higher than normal.

“Oh?”

“Yes, well, most of them at the base haven’t been run in a while, and there’s only a few that are working. I wasn’t making any progress with my—well, I needed a break so I went down and…” 

She talked on for a while, taking breaks to breathe or bite into the lush red fruit she held in her hands. He thought to himself as he sat under the willow tree next to her that he could spend a hundred lifetimes listening to her and still wish for more.

She finished her story and fruit at the same time. They were quiet for a while.

“It’s nice,” she said, “having someone to talk to. Sometimes I just—” but she cut herself off. It wasn’t easy to admit but somehow, with him… she felt like she could say anything, like nothing could frighten him off. It was foolish, of course. They were on opposite sides of a war. And yet… 

He waited for her to continue.

“I feel so… even when I’m surrounded by everyone else I just feel so alone.”

The droid chirped a question. 

“No,” she said, shaking off the feeling like a fog and looking down to the droid, “not you, of course.” She rested a hand on the droid and smiled. She looked out across the lake lost in thought.

“I feel it too,” he said, trying to break back into her awareness. She turned her gaze to him. “I—I—also feel—alone,” he forced out, eyes downcast at the admission. He heard movement but didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see her leaving the spot, trying to break the bond. He half jumped when he felt her hand on his arm and raised his eyes to meet hers.

“Ben, you’re not alone. Not anymore.” 

“Neither are you,” he said, his voice fiercer than he meant it to be—he was always too much too fast too— 

But she didn’t recoil from him. Only smiled, looking into his eyes with such earnestness that he wanted to say something, anything to solder them tighter together.

She moved closer. Before he realized what was happening he felt a light experimental pressure on his shoulder.

Slowly, as if she might vanish into the mist, he moved his arm to circle around her waist.

Their thoughts hummed into the bond, bleeding into one another.

_If only she had said yes, if only—_

Her head on his shoulder, they pushed away the impossibility, separately and together; it wouldn’t do to focus on the way things might have been. For now, even if the moment was fleeting, she was here with him. They were together beneath the willow tree, watching the rain meet the lake, and it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> The #mood of this one-shot is Al Stewart’s Clifton in the Rain, which is one of my favorite chill songs of all time. I’d already started working on a fic set to the song when I saw the prompt…and I decided to try and answer it with this fic. I hope it fits ok!


End file.
